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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Disability

This post is for sweetiemissmimi, luna and those of us from different communities with disabilities. One of my favourite maxims is "everyone is different" and one way in which we are different is in our life circumstances.It is unfortunate that there seems to be an increase in the prejudice subjected to people who have disabilities from many directions apart from the still lingering outmoded attitudes toward having disabilities in general.Those of us who have physical disabilities may get around in a number of ways and may even be multimodual: we may 'walk' but slowly, holding onto objects, use walking aids such as crutches and walking frames or wheelchairs to get about.

The critical thing is our aids give us the means of getting around - usually by ourselves - we aren't confined or limited by them even if those who are not still persist in needlessly creating less accessible environments .The nature of some disabilities is that conditions do fluctuate so we may alternate modes which isn't a reason to start tut tutting or accusing us of being fakes just because we don't meet your idea of what being disabled is. After all not having the life what would a good number of you really know?People who exhibit ME for instance may not look that they have a physical disability but ME is physically disabling making it very tiring to get about.Because we have disabilities also means we may need to adapt what we wear to avoid for instance getting things stuck in the spokes of your wheels, so spare us your "You ain't doing it right", "You can't be a lolita" or more offensively "You can't be pretty, you're just a cripple" crap. Fashion has always had a practical side adapting to needs and shock horror disabled models for the fashion industry does exist showing their genuine beauty off.Some of us work (employed or voluntary), some of us are studying up to and including degree levels, some may not be able to do either and all of us are trying to get on making the most of our lives living it in way more conductive to our needs.Some of us have varying learning disabilities or what are broadly called mental health needs and generally we'll let you know if it is we need you to step in or remind us about any medication we're on.Talking specifically about me, my own take on it is I never ask to have my disabilities with the many limitations they do place on me but given they have, my alg lifestyle is more suited to me as I can cope much better when I'm in a more child like headspace as I struggle with much else.
Photo credit "myasianfashion.it"